A United Nations rights official has raised the alarm over a sharp rise in executions worldwide in 2025, driven largely by a handful of countries that have intensified capital punishment despite global moves toward abolition.
While the broader international trend has steadily leaned toward ending the death penalty, the UN Human Rights Office reported a startling increase in executions last year, driven primarily by a small number of retentionist states. The spike has been especially pronounced in cases involving drug-related crimes, which international law generally does not classify as “most serious crimes,” and in executions of individuals convicted for crimes committed as children.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said his office monitored “an alarming increase” in capital punishment during 2025, highlighting the growing use of executions for offences that do not meet the strict threshold set by international law. Türk also pointed to persistent secrecy surrounding executions and the continued use of capital punishment against juvenile offenders, issues that he described as serious human rights concerns.
The UN report singled out Iran as the largest contributor to the global rise in executions. At least 1,500 people were reportedly executed in Iran in 2025, with nearly half of those cases linked to drug offences. Türk warned that the scale and pace of executions suggest a “systematic use of capital punishment as a tool of State intimidation,” disproportionately affecting ethnic minorities and migrants.
Saudi Arabia also saw a record number of executions in 2025, with at least 356 people put to death—surpassing the previous record set in 2024. A striking 78% of those executed were convicted of drug-related crimes, following the resumption of such executions in late 2022. Türk noted that at least two of those executed were convicted of crimes committed as children, raising severe concerns about children’s rights.
The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest total in 16 years. The report also highlighted the expansion of gas asphyxiation as an execution method, introduced in the U.S. in 2024, which has raised serious concerns about torture and cruel punishment.
Public executions continued in Afghanistan, in clear violation of international law. On 11 April 2025, four people convicted of murder were executed by victims’ relatives in sports stadiums in several provinces. The UN noted that de facto authorities have carried out multiple public executions since August 2021.
Executions were also reported in Somalia and Singapore, while China and North Korea remain opaque about their use of capital punishment, making accurate figures difficult to obtain. Belarus has recently expanded the scope of capital offences under national security and terrorism-related laws.
The UN also warned about proposed changes in Israel that would introduce mandatory death sentences exclusively for Palestinians, raising concerns over due process and potential violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The report further condemned executions carried out by Hamas in Gaza as blatant human rights violations.
Despite the grim global picture, the UN highlighted several positive developments in 2025. Vietnam reduced the number of offences punishable by death, and Pakistan removed two non-lethal capital crimes from its legal code. Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes at the end of 2024, while Kenya initiated a legislative review of capital punishment. Malaysia’s resentencing process reduced the number of people at risk of execution by more than 1,000. In Kyrgyzstan, the Constitutional Court reaffirmed the ban on the death penalty, ruling a proposed reintroduction unconstitutional.
Türk reiterated his long-standing argument that the death penalty is ineffective as a crime-control tool and risks executing innocent people. He warned that capital punishment is often applied arbitrarily and discriminatorily, undermining equality before the law. The High Commissioner called on all retentionist states to impose an immediate moratorium on executions, commute existing death sentences, and move toward full abolition.
